Unifor president Jerry Dias, representing 12,000 media workers across Canada, said in an email to union members on Monday that Unifor will run an “aggressive” campaign to defeat Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in the Oct. 21 election.

“We do not tell members how to vote, but I will be speaking out against the Conservative Party,” said Dias, acclaimed to a third and final three-year term as Unifor’s president at its national convention in Quebec City Tuesday.

This is hardly a surprise.

Dias and Unifor’s national executive board dubbed themselves “The resistance” and “Andrew Scheer’s worst nightmare” in a tweet in November, announcing the start of their election campaign to “stop Scheer stupidity” in 2019.

Dias’s email said he’s aware of concerns from Unifor’s media members that the public will think they are biased against Conservatives in covering the election, because of Unifor’s stand.

“Journalists, my own communications staff, even our Atlantic Regional Director, Lana Payne, a former journalist, have all explained to me why our union’s partisan stance makes some of you uncomfortable. I hear you,” Dias wrote.

But not enough to change his mind.

“I have heard from some members in the media sector, in particular journalists, who do not like our union’s involvement in politics. I am writing as a courtesy to share with you our plans to aggressively fight to stop a wave of anti-worker conservatives from taking away our rights and your jobs.”

In previous interviews, Dias has defended his right to free speech and to protect media jobs, arguing the public’s perception of media bias is that they are anti-Liberal, caused by media owners who support the Conservatives.

“The group, I would argue, that are putting them in conflict are the editors and publishers who are openly saying, we are supporting the Conservative Party of Canada,” Dias said.

“If their owners are quite open in saying that, are you trying to tell me that Canada’s largest private sector union can’t express their point of view?”

Despite that, Dias made common cause with newspaper owners in successfully urging the Trudeau government to earmark $645 million in support of Canada’s newspaper industry (including Postmedia, which owns the Toronto Sun).

Unifor was one of eight groups chosen by the government to name representatives to a panel recommending which media organizations will be eligible for federal assistance.

Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union with 315,000 members, meaning Dias represents a wide range of labour concerns beyond its media members, who are less than 4% of its membership.

And it isn’t the only association of media workers to campaign during a federal election.

In 2015, the Canadian Media Guild, representing CBC workers among its 6,000 members, registered as a “third party” with Elections Canada, so it could campaign for more funding for the CBC.

While officially non-partisan, the CMG’s criticism was obviously aimed at the then Harper government, since it was responsible for what the CMG described as “destructive and unnecessary … recent (CBC) cuts” the Trudeau government reversed.

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